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Upgrade or or switch PC?

sitnah

Posted 16 January 2011 - 07:53 AM

sitnah

Member

Member

17 posts

I have just bought a new computer. I was going to give a friend my old computer, then found out hers is a bit newer than mine.
But her computer runs slower than a snail, mine runs great and is still very fast.
The main things she does with the computer is scanning old pictures (.tif format, large files), picture editing of old & new digital pictures, & making lots of slide show DVD's type of stuff with them.

I'm not sure if RAM is her problem, or her other hardware? Would more RAM "cure" her slow down problem or should she take my old computer instead?

I have already tried the other cures for "system slow" like "cleaning up" the computer, un-installing non-needed programs, turning off un-needed start-ups, defrag, etc. I'm computer literate enough to do that, but when it comes to deciphering all those systems specs, I find myself at a total loss and with a headache
Thanks for reading !
Forgot to say both computers Windows XP SP 3

Edited by sitnah, 16 January 2011 - 07:56 AM.

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phillpower2

Posted 16 January 2011 - 11:21 AM

phillpower2

Moderator

Moderator

21,819 posts

Hi sitnah,
I would agree with your conclusion and recommend upgrading to a minimum of 2GB (2 X 1GB sticks) use the system scanner tool at rhe attached link, there is no need to purchase anything just write down the recommended Ram details and shop around for the best deal; http://www.crucial.c...:20100901184937
Another thing that can slow down the system is when the HDD is reaching its full capacity, you should always have between 10 and 15% of the total storage capacity at all times in this instance a minimum of between 16 and 24GB (20GB)
This is for things like restore points and shadow copies in the case of other OS.

sitnah

Posted 18 January 2011 - 06:56 AM

phillpower2

Posted 18 January 2011 - 12:30 PM

phillpower2

Moderator

Moderator

21,819 posts

80GB is plenty so it shouldn't`t slow the system down, programmes running in the background tend to do this so the extra Ram should sort things out, also worth a mention consider using Autoruns and TFC (temporary file cleaner) by Old Timer to get rid of useless clutter on the HDD and defrag the HDD once a week, a tidy drive is a more efficient drive, let us know if we can help with the above.